How to Remodel a Sunroom Part II

So today the winds were a little calmer, the sun was out - a perfect day to stain the concrete floor! First, we taped plastic to all the posts to protect our newly painted woodwork.









Once everything was taped up, we did a final vacuum and cleaning of the floor. Now, let me tell you a quick story. About two weeks ago, Clare and I were at The ReStore, which is a store run by Habitat for Humanity that sells used and overstocked building materials. They have everything! Sinks, tile, lumber, doors, you name it! We were in there searching for a plant stand (which we didn't find) when we came across this kit by Rustoleum which looked like this:

It was a good deal, came with everything we would need including a riveting instructional DVD. And since we were planning on staining the concrete in the sunroom anyway, we bought it. I LOVE the ReStore!

After insuring your concrete has not been previously sealed and is in good shape, it needs to be thoroughly cleaned & dried. Then, you need to pull out the bag of concrete etching (a powder) and mix it in a 2 gallon watering can with water until it is completely dissolved. Pour it evenly on the concrete, brush it in with a push broom, let it sit for 1-2 minutes, then rinse. We did all that yesterday morning.

Also included in this kit are two gallons of two different colors of stain. One is a base coat and one is an accent color. We poured the base coat into the sprayer and I went to town.





Now after looking at these pictures, you may be thinking to yourself, "Gee, doesn't look like much of a base coat."

Well, you are not alone in that thinking.

As it turns out, two people shaking a paint can is not the same as the machine at Home Depot shaking the paint can. As we learned when we decided to try a second base coat and noticed all the color that was still sitting at the bottom of the paint can.

Oops.

After both base coats, the wrong one and right one, dried we applied the accent coat. This was a dark brown. It went on the same way - with a sprayer - just not as densely sprayed. After that dried, we topped it off with sealer, applied the same way as the other coats. And here is our result:





It will dry overnight. Tomorrow we will touch up any painting that got messed up with the wild spraying technique I employed. Adam will begin ripping the boards for trim and I will finish off painting the base boards.

A final commentary by Adam: